Wherever He leads I'll go

Posts tagged ‘vbs’

Vicki and Fred James of Morning Star Ministries have been ministering to the people of the Colville Reservation for over 10 years. The people here are their family and their love for them is obvious. The love goes both ways…the people of the reservation love Vicki and Fred as well.

Vicki James and some of “her babies.”

Fred James

You don’t hear much about this reservation in the North/Central area of Washington State…

…and there are only two churches that work with Vicki and Fred. These two churches offer the children a VBS during the summers. There’s no building yet so everything has to be done during the summer. The good news is the tribal council is leasing them a piece of land and we are looking forward to seeing God provide the funding for a building that will enable them to have year round ministry.

And now they have another team from Louisiana to work with them as well!

What started off as a sketchy summer (as you read on my last post) became a mission I’ll never forget. Everyone arrived Sunday evening and started work first thing Monday morning. We had to get the park ready for the Back Yard Bible Club we were doing so that was our first order of business.

There was lots of mowing…

Picking up trash…

Sweeping up broken glass…

Picking up the broken glass…

And weed eating.

The ladies and the teens were done with their part of the clean up job after Monday but Pastor Josh Adams, Mr. Frank Pittman and Mr. Garland Nichols spent the next three mornings continuing to mow the remainder of the property. Mr. Frank and Mr. Garland also helped Fred put up a new basketball goal. This property would not look nearly as good as it does if not for those guys!

On the evening of the first day we all walked the neighborhoods in the area handing out flyers. The next three days saw the ladies and the teens splitting up into teams of 2 and 3 and prayer walking each neighborhood in the mornings while the men continued cleaning the park. The pastor did take a break from mowing to go prayer walking with us on Thursday. He and some of the others hiked up a mountain to a waterfall and prayed for all they could see.

After prayer walking each morning, we would head back to the hotel to get ready for the Back Yard Bible Club that evening.

Then we would head back out to the park and start setting up.

The kids started coming before we even got finished!

We had three stations. Bible Study…

You would be amazed at how much they want to participate in Bible Study when you start throwing candy to those who participate! 🙂 Our lessons were based on Genesis 1:1, John 1:1 and Revelation 1:1.

Then it was time for crafts. Each craft went with the Bible lesson. Kim Stalsby, the youth minister at Twin Bridges BC in Alexandria, and her youth group worked hard at providing them.

Brother Josh Adams of Pisgah Baptist Church in Forest Hill led the kids in recreation…and they loved him!

All of his activities consisted of these…

…needless to say, many of us got wet every night!

We had snacks every night as well. Mrs. RoAnn Nichols and Mrs. Leta Faye Pittman, both from Pisgah Baptist Church in Forest Hill, took care of this for us.

Thanks to the ladies of Pisgah Baptist Church in Forest Hill, we had gifts and prizes for everything…

But this young man got a huge master blaster water gun for his dedication in picking up the trash every single night!

The kids played basketball (basketball is always a big deal on every reservation)…

They enjoyed the swings and slides in the park…

And they all enjoyed the sidewalk chalk but this young man had a special gift with that chalk. I think I see a graffiti artist in the making…

We had bubbles to blow, 4 square, and as many dogs as we had kids (almost).

On Friday night we had a fry bread fellowship! I am a devoted fan of fry bread and was quite excited about this. However, as most of you know, it is best if I don’t participate in cooking. So…Vicki taught Mrs. RoAnn, Mrs. Leta Faye and Kim how to make it.

Kim even made Louisiana’s version of fry bread…beignets. The kids loved them!

Everything was eaten and I didn’t even get any fry bread!!!! I did get some beignets though and they were SO GOOD!!

The kids had fun playing with face paint while waiting for the fry bread to cook. Some went with the traditional look…

…and some not so traditional.

Some tried their hand at it with the adults…

…and with each other.

Friday night, like every other night, was a great success.

We ministered to approximately 60 children all total and more importantly, we had 17 children ask Jesus to be their Savior!

We all bonded with these children…

We were blessed to be a part of their lives if even for a brief moment. I was blessed in many ways…to share this ministry with such a great team and to make new friends I’ll have forever. I was also honored when this man told me that he liked how I taught the kids. He said, “You know how to handle them. You sound like an Indian woman. They know they better listen.”

I almost cried when these children brought me a basket full of roses and a bracelet they made for me.

These are beautiful people…

…and I was honored to serve them.

But I am most honored that Jesus sent us there so that we could bring the Gospel to them.

Thanks to Mrs. Yvonne Stockman I have lots of little “Wordless Books” that tell the Gospel with a simple color scheme. Our team wore these little books and used them to present the Gospel in a way that a child can understand. Many of these children had never heard of Jesus Christ and now, because of five small pieces of felt and a safety pin, they have heard and can tell their family and friends.